LOS ANGELES — Desperate times call for … unexpected measures.
Two days after admitting he had a conversation with Shohei Ohtani about taking him out of the lineup for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series and one day after dropping him to sixth in the order for that game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts moved Ohtani back to the top of the lineup.
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Ohtani was in the leadoff spot for Game 4 against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday. It was his first time batting leadoff this postseason.
“Just seeing the work the last couple days, I like where his head is at,” Roberts said. “I liked the at-bats yesterday, and I felt that trying to shake it up a little bit – obviously we haven’t performed the way that we’re capable of, so to kind of shake it up a little bit but something that’s of somewhat normalcy that our guys are used to.”
Ohtani reached base three times in Game 3 on a walk, a single and when he was hit by a pitch.
Ohtani is just 4 for 22 (.182) in the postseason, but that hardly stands out in the unproductive lineup. Through the first three games of the NLCS, the Dodgers were hitting .165 (15 for 91) as a team with just two extra-base hits and no home runs. Only Mookie Betts (3 for 12) had more than two hits.
“I think getting back to what we’ve done all year and how it’s been going recently as far as on the offense, I think it warranted just a little bit of a shakeup,” said Roberts, who also started Miguel Rojas and Kiké Hernandez against Brewers left-hander Shane Drohan.
PHILLY CONNECTION
Before re-signing Don Mattingly to a contract extension as manager, the Philadelphia Phillies reached out to two members of the Dodgers’ front office with Philly connections – Chase Utley and Raul Ibañez.
Neither would confirm the contact, but neither interviewed for the job. Both have teen-aged children and Utley acknowledged family takes priority over pursuing a managerial career at this point.
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Ibañez, currently the Dodgers’ vice president of baseball development and special projects, has been approached about managing on other occasions but declined. Utley is a special assistant to Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
AWARDS SEASON
Despite his injuries and a prolonged slump, Ohtani is one of the National League finalists for the Hank Aaron Award given to the top offensive performer in MLB during the regular season. Ohtani finished the season with a .275 average, 30 home runs and an .889 OPS. Ohtani has won it the past three seasons (twice in the NL and once with the Angels in the American League).
The other finalists are CJ Abrams (Washington Nationals), Jake Bauers (Milwaukee Brewers), Pete Crow-Armstrong (Chicago Cubs), Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart (Cincinnati Reds), Matt Olson (Atlanta Braves), Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies), Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres) and Jordan Walker (St. Louis Cardinals).
Ohtani is also one of three finalists for the Players’ Choice Outstanding Player Award along with Crow-Armstrong and Schwarber.
Max Muncy and Andy Pages have been named finalists for Gold Glove awards at their positions. Muncy is a finalist at third base along with Alex Bregman (Cubs) and Javier Sanoja (Miami Marlins). Pages is a finalist in center field along with Crow-Armstrong and Michael Harris II (Braves).
The Gold Glove winners will be announced on ESPN on Nov. 1.
UP NEXT
NLCS Game 5 (if necessary): Brewers (RHP Jacob Misiorowski, 16-5, 1.80 ERA) at Dodgers (LHP Tarik Skubal, 12-7, 2.72 ERA), Friday, 6 p.m. FS1, 570 AM
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